Need for INDIA unity like never before

There has never been a dire need for Opposition unity in the country as now with the re-energized BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) bent on implementing its agenda unilaterally, hardly caring for voices of protest all over. Whether it is the Waqf Bill, Uniform Civil Code or the Citizenship Amendment Act, it is obvious from the signs emerging from the ruling front that given a chance, they would ride roughshod over any opposition to such controversial policy decisions. There are overt and covert attempts to trample on minority community rights with the latest trend of ‘finding’ temples under age-old mosques, adding to the growing atmosphere of intolerance in the country.

This is happening despite the fact that the BJP saw its wings being clipped in the Lok Sabha polls a few months ago even though it managed to cling on to power with the help of the JD(U) and Telugu Desam. The BJP can no longer claim a majority on its own and yet, the saffronists seem determined to carry out their divisive agenda brazenly, maybe enthused by the fact that Opposition unity is in tatters. Going by recent developments in the Opposition camp, one can’t help wondering if the BJP has a reason to be upbeat; never has the INDIA bloc has been as disunited as it is now and more so after the stunning defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly polls. And discordant voices in the Opposition camp are becoming shriller with each passing day, dealing a blow to attempts to build up unity against an aggressive NDA.

The ‘split’ in the Opposition is becoming evident even in Parliament where the Samajwadi Party is singing a different tune from that of the main Opposition party, the Congress. While SP chief Akhilesh Yadav went hammer and tongs against the government on the Sambhal mosque row, the Grand Old Party felt it was the Adani scam and the US arrest warrant for Gautam Adani which deserved a lot more attention. The SP along with Trinamool Congress, even decided to skip an INDIA protest led by the Congress outside Parliament on the Adani issue. There are also subtle attempts by some INDIA bloc parties to push an alternative face other than Rahul Gandhi to lead the Opposition charge. One of the leaders being proposed is the mercurial Mamata Banerjee, CM of West Bengal.

But Congress seniors know well that Didi may be able to win West Bengal for her party but her emergence as a pan-India leader has many miles to go. So much so that Congress MP Manickam Tagore dismissed the push to make Mamata the INDIA block leader as a ‘good joke’. The Congress may be down after the Maharashtra debacle but it is far from ‘finished’- a remark made by the SP’s Akhilesh, which has only given the BJP more ammunition to target the Opposition. Such remarks made on the spur of the moment by senior leaders, hardly do any good to the cause of Opposition unity. The BJP juggernaut may be at a new high after the Haryana and Maharashtra poll victories but such joy can be short lived if the Opposition presents a united front. And there is no better place to prove one’s might than the poll arena.

With Delhi and Bihar set to face polls in 2025, INDIA has an opportunity to prove that the Maharashtra victory was an aberration and hardly reflects sentiments prevailing across the country. To start with, AAP and Congress could put their differences on the backburner and beat off the challenge from the BJP in the Delhi polls. And what better place to start the campaign for Opposition revival than the crucible of many a political revolution - Bihar where a resurgent RJD could take the wind out of the sails of the BJP-JD(U) combine with a generous helping hand from the Congress, in a state where it reigned supreme in the 1980s?